Personally, for me, there used to be a dichotomy in how I identify
culturally in an academic/social setting, and with my family. It wasn’t until I
came to Stanford that this division/split in my identity finally came together,
as the Native community helped show me what it really meant to be indigenous.
Throughout high school (and even as far as Kindergarten),
there were only ever 2 Native Americans that I knew about in my school (&
my high school had 3,000+ students!!). Despite there being 2 other Natives, 1
was a year younger than me (and was not involved in any clubs/AP classes I knew
of) and the other was my year, but also was not involved in any of the
social/academic circles that I was apart of. In essence, throughout my whole
time within primary & secondary school, I was never exposed to my Native
culture in an academia setting, other than through textbooks. Because of this,
and upon retrospection, I really noticed how divided I in how I presented
myself with my school friends, and with my family.
(Kinda close representation of how I felt about who I was throughout
high school)
Mostly, when I think of my culture, I think of my family
& my elders because 1. I spent most of my time growing up around them, and
because 2. They are the ones who taught me some prayers, stories, meanings
behind why certain things exist, how I should behave, and how I should be
presenting myself in public. They’re my main driving force in why I want to
achieve in school, and why I help others when I can. They’re my best friends,
and they’re the ones I would turn to when I held problems. They’re apart of my identity,
because they’re the ones who raised me; and I always want to represent them and
honor their teachings to me by presenting myself and carrying out actions that
represent who they are. And now that the Native community is here with me, it
feels that I can always present myself in the way that I feel most comfortable
with, a way that honors how I was raised and who I was raised by.
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